Scottish Executive

Ambulance Service

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many ambulance staff are employed in the NHS Forth Valley area, broken down by ambulance station location.

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is a shortage of ambulance staff in the NHS Forth Valley area and, if so, whether information on this shortage can be broken down by ambulance station location.

Malcolm Chisholm: The table shows the ambulance staff establishment levels by ambulance station location in the NHS Forth Valley area. The stations are all currently staffed to the establishment level.

  


Station


Accident & Emergency Establishment
(Full-time)


Non-Emergency
(Full-time)


Establishment
(Part-time)




Alva


10


2


4




Balfron


5


1


-




Callander


5


-


-




Falkirk


23


16


10




Killin


5


-


-




Stirling


18


8


5




Total


66


27


19

Ambulance Service

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive which ambulance stations within the Forth Valley Ambulance area do not provide round the clock 24 hour cover.

Malcolm Chisholm: The ambulance stations at Balfron, Callander and Killin operate on an on-call basis.

Ambulance Service

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how long on average it takes ambulances within the NHS Forth Valley area to respond to calls, broken down by ambulance station location.

Malcolm Chisholm: The table shows the number of 999 emergency calls, broken down by ambulance station in the NHS Forth Valley area, and the average response times for each between 1 April 2001 and 31 January 2002. The service also responded to 6,552 GPs' urgent calls in the NHS Forth Valley area over the same period.

  


Station


No. of 999 emergency calls


Average response time (minutes)




Alva


1,692


9.9




Balfron


381


16.5




Callander


382


14.2




Falkirk


5,373


9.3




Killin


187


18.3




Stirling


3,547


9.4




Total


11,562


10.0

Ambulance Service

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it has set for the timescales within which ambulances must respond to calls within the NHS Forth Valley area.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Ambulance Service's Emergency Service performance is currently measured against "ORCON" national response targets. These vary according to population density and cover targets for the 50th percentile and 95th percentile. For the stations at Alva, Falkirk and Stirling, which are regarded as being "medium density" areas, the targets are for 50% of emergency 999 calls to be responded to within eight minutes and 95% within 18 minutes. For the stations at Balfron, Callander and Killin, regarded as "sparse density" areas, the targets are 50% within eight minutes and 95% within 21 minutes.

  For GPs' urgent calls, the national response time target is to transfer the patient to hospital within 15 minutes of the time agreed with the requesting GP.

Audiology

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much additional funding was allocated to audiology services for the implementation of The Good Practice Guidance for Adult Hearing Aid Fittings and Services for the years 2001-02 and 2002-03.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: The Scottish Executive issued the Good Practice Guidance to service providers on the basis that they were expected to implement the recommendations from within current resources.

  At national level the health budget will rise from £5.9 billion this year to £6.9 billion in 2003-04, representing around one third of the total Scottish Executive budget. It is important that local NHS boards and trusts are able to take decisions about the allocation of the resources at local level to meet local needs and priorities.

  The wide-ranging review of audiology services, commissioned by the Executive, will monitor the extent of the implementation of the guidance and will provide robust evidence and recommendations on how NHSScotland should address shortfalls identified. The review will report in the autumn.

Breastfeeding

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of mothers currently continue to breastfeed at six weeks in each NHS board area.

Malcolm Chisholm: Centrally held figures are not available for all NHS board areas. The following table, which is compiled by ISD and is drawn from the child surveillance pre-school system, shows the percentage of mothers breastfeeding at the six-to-eight week review point for those boards participating:

  


NHS Board


Breastfeeding %




Ayrshire and Arran


31.7




Borders


45




Argyll and Clyde


31.5




Fife


34.4




Greater Glasgow


33.4




Lanarkshire


24.5




Lothian


46.9




Tayside


39.1




Forth Valley


32.2




  Notes:

  1. Missing and unknown data have been excluded.

  2. Figures are for exclusively breastfed and both breast and formula milk fed.

Children's Panels

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of young people referred to Children's Panels live in rural areas.

Cathy Jamieson: Statistics relating to the children's hearings system are an operational matter for the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration. National statistics are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 18780).

Digital Hearing Aids

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many audiologists trained in (a) the diagnosis of a patient's suitability for digital hearing aids and (b) the fitting of such aids there were in each health board area at 31 March and 30 September in each of the past three years.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: Information on the total number of qualified audiologists working in NHSScotland is not held centrally, but will be held by local NHS management. Contact details for NHS management personnel are available on:

  www.show.scot.nhs.uk.

  The supplier generally undertakes training on the fitting of digital hearing aids.

  I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-23079 on 13 March 2002, which provides information on the number of medical staff in the specialty of audiological medicine in the last three years for which information is available.

Doctors

Mr Kenneth Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to recruit more orthopaedic surgeons in (a) Greater Glasgow and (b) across Scotland as a whole.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: It is a matter for individual NHS boards and trusts to assess and provide for local needs and to determine the staffing levels required for effective delivery of service outcomes. Trusts must be able to adapt staffing arrangements to suit the changing pattern of local circumstances, and be judged by outcomes rather than inputs.

  The number of higher specialist training posts available in Scotland is regularly adjusted, to meet the projected number of new consultants needed to meet known and anticipated turnover and local service developments. Sixteen doctors training in Scotland are expected to achieve a Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training in Orthopaedic Surgery in 2002, allowing them to apply for consultant positions. In March 2001 the specialist registrar establishment for orthopaedic surgery was increased from 50 to 58, a rise of 16%.

  We will consider whether additional training posts for orthopaedic surgery should be part of the targeted increase of 375 junior doctors, which was announced on 2 April 2001, for the period to 2004. The targeting will take account of the review of medical workforce planning which is currently under way.

Drug Misuse

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have died as a direct result of ecstasy consumption in each of the past three years.

Dr Richard Simpson: The following table presents the information available. For most of these cases other drugs including alcohol were also involved. It is therefore not possible to say how many of the deaths were as a direct result of ecstasy consumption.

  Drug-related deaths involving ecstasy, Scotland, 1998-2000

  


Year


Number




1998


3




1999


8




2000


11

Enterprise

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the European Charter for Small Enterprises will lead to a reduction in red tape for Scottish businesses.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The charter raises the prospect of improvement in a range of areas, including administration procedures to better reflect their impact on small- to medium-sized enterprises, opportunities for cheaper and faster start-ups and reductions in barriers to the raising of capital on a cross-border basis. These and other proposals within the charter, offer a very real prospect for the reduction of burdens on Scottish businesses, arising at a European level.

Enterprise

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any call centres are considering a move to India in order to reduce operational costs.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive is not, as a matter of course, involved, or necessarily informed, on every occasion a business considers a change of location, for whatever reason.

Enterprise

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-4741 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 28 February 2002, which obsolete regulations affecting business it has revoked.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Review Regulatory Impact Assessment or "Regulatory MOT", introduced in February 2001, requires that all regulations which impact significantly upon business are subject to a rigorous review within 10 years of their introduction. This is not a short-term measure, though rather aims to ensure the regulatory environment remains effective in the longer term and that regulations do not remain in force by default.

Enterprise

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to its news release SE5330/2002 of 12 February 2002, why finance from the venture capital Investment Fund will be co-invested in funds set up and managed by private sector fund managers.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The new £20 million venture capital investment fund will have a strong commercial orientation and is intended to strengthen the venture capital structure in Scotland. By co-investing in funds set up and managed by private sector fund managers, we will add to the number of players in the Scottish market while ensuring that investments in individual businesses are determined by those best placed to make such judgements.

Enterprise

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to its news release SE5330/2002 of 12 February 2002, what criteria will be used to select the private sector fund managers for the venture capital Investment Fund and what the selection and appointment process will be.

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to its news release SE5330/2002 of 12 February 2002, what (a) conditions will apply to and (b) objectives will be required of the private sector fund managers in respect of handling investments using finance from the venture capital Investment Fund.

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to its news release SE5330/2002 on 12 February 2002, what criteria will be used by the private sector fund managers when making decisions on investments using finance from the venture capital Investment Fund and what conditions will apply to any such investments in order to secure the Executive's equity participation in the selected companies.

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to its news release SE5330/2002 of 12 February 2002, whether any rules will apply to the expected internal rate of return on any investment by a private sector fund manager in any one company using finance from the venture capital Investment Fund and to the return on any associated investment by the same fund manager in the same company using private finance.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The detailed arrangements for operation of the £20 million venture capital fund, announced on 12 February, are currently being worked up by Scottish Enterprise in collaboration with the Scottish Executive Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

  These include the framework of a bidding process for private sector fund managers seeking to access the investment fund, and the conditions which will apply to fund managers in making subsequent company investment decisions. On the basis of these arrangements, it is intended that individual investment decisions will be a matter for the fund managers to determine. Further details on the operation of the new fund will be announced in due course.

Enterprise

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to its news release SE5330/2002 of 12 February 2002, what role (a) Scottish Enterprise, (b) Highlands and Islands Enterprise and (c) local enterprise companies will play in the investment of finance from the venture capital Investment Fund.

Ms Wendy Alexander: We are working closely with Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise in developing the detailed arrangements for operation of the new venture capital investment fund. We will be looking to the enterprise network to manage the operational arrangements in due course. The networks will also play a key role in ensuring that the demand side constraints on access to venture capital funding in Scotland are addressed through a new programme of investor readiness support for Scottish companies.

Enterprise

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to its news release SE5330/2002 of 12 February 2002, whether Audit Scotland will report regularly on investments made using finance from the venture capital Investment Fund.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Full monitoring, reporting and evaluation arrangements will be a key element of our venture capital investment proposals. Details of this and other parts of the package are currently being put together by Scottish Enterprise, in collaboration with my Department and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

Enterprise

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many venture capital firms are registered in Scotland.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Regulation of financial institutions is a reserved matter. We are informed by the Financial Services Authority that, at 30 November 2001, there were 12 firms in Scotland authorised by IMRO with a permitted activity in venture capital.

Environment

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-21592 by Ross Finnie on 22 January 2002, when the minutes of the meeting of the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment of 24 January 2002, including any report on the GM contamination discovered in Mexico, will be published.

Ross Finnie: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-23626 on 14 March 2002.

European Funding

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to its news release SE5443/2002 of 4 March 2002, whether it will list the economic development projects in the west of Scotland that will benefit from the new round of support from European Structural Funds under the Objective 2 programme.

Peter Peacock: The list of projects that will benefit from my announcement on the latest awards of European Structural Funds announced on 4 March 2002 is shown in the following table:

  


Project Title


Project Sponsor


 




Support for businesses




Advancing Production in Glasgow


Glasgow City Council


1,016,000




LINC Strathclyde


LINC Scotland


363,972




Web Force 


Scottish Enterprise Glasgow


196,250




Targeted Industrial Ecology: SME Support


University of Paisley


138,554




Investors in People


Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire


108,850




Lanarkshire Support for E-business


Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire 


240,625




Women Into Enterprise


Glasgow City Council 


487,515




Growing Businesses 


Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire 


672,500




Promoting Innovation in Ayrshire SMEs


Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire 


536,746




Business Growth Through Innovation


Glasgow City Council


544,637




Glasgow's Sustainable Business Efficiency Initiative


Scottish Enterprise Glasgow 


306,000




Progressing to High Level Computing Skills


Stow College


34,636




Higher Skills for Music/Media Industry


Stow College


34,636




Working in Tourism and Hospitality


Scottish Enterprise Dunbartonshire


100,297




Employability through e-learning


Govan Initiative


60,256




Creative Industries Skills Development


Govan Initiative


40,482




Call Centre Skills for Short Term Unemployed in North Lanarkshire


Coatbridge College


21,203




 


 


£4,903,159




Industrial and tourism developments




Barrhead Regeneration: Glasgow Road Development Strategy


East Renfrewshire Council 


766,000




Treefest 2002


Forestry Commission


113,100




Kelvingrove 21st Century Project


Glasgow City Council


2,558,713




Ayrshire Film Focus


Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire


108,314




Brandon House Business Centre


South Lanarkshire Council


107,069




Gartcosh Regeneration Phase 2, Stage B


Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire


260,000




Marketing New Lanark as a World Heritage Destination


New Lanark Conservation Trust


171,786




 


 


£4,084,982




Community and social inclusion projects




Paisley Partnership Learning Centres


Paisley Partnership Regeneration Co


196,841




Castlemilk Connections


Castlemilk Economic Development Agency


99,842




Rosemount Flexicentre 


Rosemount Lifelong Learning 


160,993




Westwood Business Centre Extension


Greater Easterhouse Development Company Ltd 


110,000




Girvan Community Economic Development Team


South Ayrshire Council


88,941




Glasgow Key Fund Phase II


Glasgow Alliance 


1,288,000




Buddies for Learning


Paisley Partnership Regeneration Co


56,108




Childcare Workplace Employment


South Lanarkshire Council


150,043




South Lanarkshire Access to Employment


South Lanarkshire Council 


120,606




Carnwadric Access to Training Programme


Langside College


18,235




Govan Training for Inclusion


Cardonald College


95,844




Gorbals Taster Project


Cardonald College


43,095




Pollok Training for Inclusion


Cardonald College


148,491




Greater Pollok Taster Project


Cardonald College


45,799




Building Inclusion


Cardonald College 


140,068




START - Lanarkshire


Right Track Ltd


45,621




One Plus Three Towns ILM Childcare Project


One Plus: One Parent Families


156,092




East Ayrshire Woodlands ILM 


East Ayrshire Council


153,796




North Ayr Modern Apprenticeship Plus


Access North Ayr 


45,818




Access to Training and Employment


Access North Ayr


45,861




Traineeship 2002 ILM 


South Ayrshire Council


57,544




Environmental 2002 ILM


South Ayrshire Council


67,582




Glasgow Employment Multiplier


Glasgow City Council


713,558




Electronic Skills


Govan Initiative Ltd


53,960




Assist 2002


Developing North Ayrshire


101,524




New Skills Partnership


Prospects for Employment


21,348




Rosemount: HNC Computing Further Routes to Employment


Anniesland College 


38,053




Learning Centres - Adult Guidance - Paisley SIP


Paisley Partnership Regeneration Co


40,571




ACE - Access to Choices and Employment


The Workplace Initiative


85,798




Environmental Care - ILM 


Greenlight Recycling


189,971




Arab - ICT


Anniesland College 


35,544




St Rochs Childcare Service 0-12 Years Provision


St Rochs Childcare Service


509,889




Developing Social Enterprise in West Dunbartonshire


West Dunbartonshire Council


50,000




Developing Castlemilk's Social Economy


Castlemilk Economic Development Agency


49,748




Greater Easterhouse ICT Network


John Wheatley College


277,711




Ayrshire ICT Social Enterprise


East Ayrshire Council


952,300




Community Childcare Facility to Support SIPs


Cumbernauld College


142,144




Ardrossan Environmental ILM Project


Cunninghame Housing Association


134,076




WORMS R'US


Developing North Ayrshire


104,818




West Dunbartonshire Skills Development


The Lennox Partnership


34,963




Cybernews - Transitional Opportunities Programme


Developing North Ayrshire


88,308




Mile End Out of School Care Project


East End Partnership Ltd


90,032




Clyde Key Funds


Clyde Key Fund Management Group


220,000




Girvan Southern Approach Environmental Improvement Scheme


South Ayrshire Council


57,804




Ayrshire Key Fund


Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire


305,000




Ayrshire Key Fund - Girvan


Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire


64,000




 


 


£7,696,340

Foot-and-Mouth Disease

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to establish a blood testing facility in south-west Scotland following the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

Ross Finnie: The provision of serology facilities to serve needs throughout Great Britain is being considered carefully in the context of contingency planning following last year's foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.

Football

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions have taken place with the Scottish Football Association and chief constables about football-related violence.

Dr Elaine Murray: On 21 January, the Deputy First Minister had a short briefing from the Chief Constable of Grampian Police on the incidents of disorder that occurred at the Aberdeen versus Rangers Scottish Premier League match the previous Saturday. Also, a Scottish Executive official attended a meeting on 11 February between representatives of the Scottish football authorities and the Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland where a range of issues relating to the policing of football matches was discussed.

Health

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many successful claims were made against the insurers of each health board in each of the past three years.

Malcolm Chisholm: Health boards and NHS trusts do not carry commercial insurance for clinical negligence and most areas of public and employer liability. Cover for these is provided through the departmentally administered Clinical Negligence and Other Risks Indemnity Scheme (CNORIS).

  Where individual health bodies choose to carry insurance for other risks not covered by CNORIS, neither details of these policies nor any history of claims lodged are held centrally.

Health

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients have been prescribed methadone in each health board area in each of the past three years.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.

Health

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken in order to reduce delayed discharges in (a) West Renfrewshire and (b) Inverclyde.

Hugh Henry: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-22220 on 6 February 2002. Our Delayed Discharge Action Plan , which was launched on 5 March 2002, will require all local authority and NHS partnerships to produce joint action plans to deliver specific, targeted reductions in their areas. A copy of our action plan is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 20007).

Health

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many delayed discharges there were in (a) West Renfrewshire and (b) Inverclyde in each of the last three months for which information is available.

Hugh Henry: Validated figures on numbers, causes and duration of delayed discharges are contained in Information and Statistics Division's quarterly census, Patients Ready for Discharge in NHSScotland . There are no monthly figures which are validated and quality assured in the same way. Latest figures relate to Information and Statistics Division's census of 15 October 2001 (a copy is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre: Bib. number 19993). These figures show that, at the census point, a total of 235 people were delayed in Renfrewshire Council area and a total of 109 people were delayed in Inverclyde Council area.

Heritage

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to promote the life and works of Thomas Telford.

Dr Elaine Murray: I have asked Graeme Munro, Chief Executive of Historic Scotland to reply. His response is as follows:

  We fully appreciate the significance of Thomas Telford. Most of his surviving works have been given statutory protection, either as scheduled ancient monuments or listed buildings. We have provided major funding for the repair of the Caledonian Canal, and more general support for publications on architectural history which feature his works.

Higher Education

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many acceptances there were for degrees in physics for each higher education institution in each of the last five years.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Figures on acceptances to specific subjects are not available from UCAS at an institutional level.

  Total acceptances to physics degree courses at Scottish higher education Institutions for the last five years are shown in the following table:

  


1997


1998


1999


2000


2001




447


424


390


370


315




  Source: Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).

Higher Education

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many acceptances there were for degrees in chemistry for each higher education institution in each of the last five years.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Figures on acceptances to specific subjects are not available from UCAS at an institutional level.

  Total acceptances to chemistry degree courses at Scottish higher education institutions for the last five years are shown in the following table:

  


1997


1998


1999


2000


2001




570


505


455


417


375




  Source: Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).

  The most recent figures from UCAS suggest that Scottish-domiciled applications to full-time chemistry courses in all UK institutions for 2002, have increased by over 20% on the same point in the process in 2001.

Higher Education

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many physics degrees were awarded in each of the last five years, broken down by grade of degree.

Ms Wendy Alexander: In the last five years, the number of graduates from higher education physics courses in Scottish institutions, broken down by class of degree, was as shown in the following table:

  

 

1995-96


1996-97


1997-98


1998-99


1999-2000




Total


334


345


296


308


296




1st Class


52


45


39


46


42




2nd Class


132


155


103


111


108




3rd Class


35


32


25


21


31




Other


115


113


129


130


115




  Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency, Scottish Further Education Funding Council and Scottish Executive.

Higher Education

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many chemistry degrees were awarded in each of the last five years, broken down by grade of degree.

Ms Wendy Alexander: In the last five years, the number of graduates from higher education chemistry courses in Scottish higher education institutions, broken down by class of degree was as shown in the following table:

  

 

1995-96


1996-97


1997-98


1998-99


1999-2000




Total


700


699


689


649


702




1st Class


85


74


93


87


87




2nd Class


240


235


222


230


227




3rd Class


54


38


45


54


29




Other


321


352


329


278


359




  Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency, Scottish Further Education Funding Council and Scottish Executive.

Higher Education

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-21633 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 23 January 2002, when it will reach a decision on the advice submitted to it by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council in respect of the Research Assessment Exercise of 2001.

Ms Wendy Alexander: In light of the advice of the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council, I announced, on 26 February, an additional funding package of £25 million for research in higher education over three years, consisting of £5 million in 2001-02, and £10 million each year in 2002-03 and 2003-04. It will be for the council to make final decisions on the distribution.

Historic Scotland

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23171 by Mike Watson on 5 March 2002, whether Historic Scotland has set any targets for increasing the proportion of its budget represented by income.

Dr Elaine Murray: Historic Scotland does not set its income targets, as a proportion of its total budget. Its income targets reflect what is achievable in any given sphere of commercial activity. It has published key performance targets, relating to market share and retail spend per visitor. The overall budget for Historic Scotland in future years will be determined as a result of the Spending Review 2002. Potential commercial income will be taken into account in that process.

Hospitals

Alasdair Morgan (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients detained at the State Hospital Carstairs have been assessed as suitable for transfer to another hospital or other suitable establishment nearer to their or their relatives' homes.

Malcolm Chisholm: As at 28 February 2002, there were 39 patients in the State Hospital where clinical agreement had been reached between the referring and the prospective receiving clinical teams that they could be safely treated and cared for by a local service. Thirty-five of these patients have waited more than three months since that clinical agreement was secured and may be considered to be delayed transfers.

Hospitals

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many mixed-sex hospital wards are in use in (a) West Renfrewshire, (b) Inverclyde and (c) Scotland as a whole.

Malcolm Chisholm: All NHS boards have been asked to report on progress towards the Executive's target of eliminating mixed sex accommodation by 1 April 2002. A copy of the report of this review will be placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre.

Housing

Paul Martin (Glasgow Springburn) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what rent guarantees Glasgow Housing Association has given to current council tenants should there be a yes vote in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot.

Ms Margaret Curran: If tenants vote yes in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot, the Glasgow Housing Association has guaranteed that rents for current tenants will rise by no more than inflation for the first five years after transfer and by no more than inflation plus 1% for years 6 to 8.

Housing

Paul Martin (Glasgow Springburn) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how Glasgow Housing Association will deal with anti-social neighbours should there be a yes vote in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) has devised a Neighbourhood Nuisance Policy. If tenants vote yes in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot, the GHA will take firm action in response to complaints, placing the emphasis on early action at a local level. Their Neighbourhood Relations team will work closely with local communities and operate outwith normal office hours. The GHA also plan to establish a mediation service as well as a witness and family support scheme.

Housing

Paul Martin (Glasgow Springburn) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether existing council tenants in Glasgow will still have the opportunity to buy their home should there be a yes vote in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot

Ms Margaret Curran: If tenants vote yes in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot, they will retain their Right to Buy in relation to the home that they occupy at the time of transfer.

Housing

Paul Martin (Glasgow Springburn) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the effect will be on current council tenants' existing entitlement to discounts under the Right to Buy provision should there be a yes vote in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot.

Ms Margaret Curran: If tenants vote yes in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot, there will no change to their existing entitlements to discount under the Right to Buy provision and any discount level will transfer.

Housing

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive over what timescale central heating will be installed in houses in Glasgow under the Warm Deal should there be a yes vote in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot.

Ms Margaret Curran: If tenants vote yes in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot, all homes with a long-term life will have central heating within four years of transfer.

Housing

Gordon Jackson (Glasgow Govan) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive over what timescale double glazing, insulation and exterior repairs will be completed to properties transferring from Glasgow City Council to the Glasgow Housing Association should there be a yes vote in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot.

Ms Margaret Curran: If tenants vote yes in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot, double glazing, insulation and exterior repairs will be implemented for all homes with a long-term life within six years of transfer.

Housing

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures will be taken to improve the energy efficiency of current council properties in Glasgow should there be a yes vote in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot.

Ms Margaret Curran: If tenants vote yes in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot, the Glasgow Housing Association's modernisation programme will, through the combination of external fabric upgrading, double glazing, insulation and central heating, result in significant improvements in the energy efficiency of existing council properties.

Housing

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new homes will be built for social rent in Glasgow should there be a yes vote in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot.

Ms Margaret Curran: In tenants vote yes in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot, 13,000 new homes for social rent are planned for Glasgow.

Housing

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many jobs it estimates will be sustained in Glasgow should there be a yes vote in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot.

Ms Margaret Curran: If tenants vote yes in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot, in addition to the Glasgow City Council staff transferring to the Glasgow Housing Association under Transfer Undertaking Protection of Employment regulations, it is estimated that 3,100 new construction jobs will be created over the investment period as well as enhanced apprenticeship opportunities.

Housing

Mr Frank McAveety (Glasgow Shettleston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures will be taken to improve the physical security of current council properties in Glasgow should there be a yes vote in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot.

Ms Margaret Curran: It tenants vote yes in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot, all homes with a long-term future will benefit from improved security measures, such as external doors and security locks. In addition older tenants will receive special home security measures, including effective and well designed door and window locks, viewers and intercoms.

Housing

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how Glasgow Housing Association will be held accountable for the commitments it has given to tenants should there be a yes vote in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot.

Ms Margaret Curran: If tenants vote yes in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot, the Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) will be accountable to the Scottish Executive to spend funding in a manner compliant with the conditions of grant, which will attach to the offer of such funding, to the Executive's agency, Communities Scotland, as the statutory regulator of Registered Social Landlords and to its tenants. Local Housing Organisations will also be accountable as part of their registration requirement with Communities Scotland, and as part of their contractual obligations to the GHA. The GHA will also be accountable to the city council under terms of the transfer contract and bound to implement all the guarantees set out in the business plan.

Housing

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what provisions are in place to ensure that elected councillors in Glasgow can continue to effectively represent their constituents on housing matters should there be a yes vote in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot of tenants.

Ms Margaret Curran: If tenants vote yes in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot, the city council will retain strategic responsibility for housing in the city. The city council has six nominees on the Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) Management Committee, which has overall responsibility for the GHA and its operations. Individual councillors are already represented on a number of existing housing associations in the city.

Housing

Janis Hughes (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements will be made to deal with Glasgow City Council's existing Housing Revenue Account debt should there be a yes vote in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot.

Ms Margaret Curran: If tenants vote yes in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot, the Treasury has agreed to repay the City Council's outstanding Public Works Loan Board debt (around £900 million). This is an extension of the arrangements that already apply as part of the housing transfer programme in England. As part of the deal, the breakage costs incurred will require to be met from the receipt from the sale or by the Scottish Executive.

Justice

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty's Government on combating the trafficking in human beings.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues. Officials in the Scottish Executive Justice Department are working with the Home Office on the development of the EU Framework Decision on combating trafficking in human beings.

Justice

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to combat the trafficking of people who are subsequently sold into the sex industry.

Mr Jim Wallace: Scots criminal law contains a range of provisions - in statute and common law - which protect people from being held unlawfully and from sexual exploitation and abuse. Those involved in sexual exploitation could be committing one or more of a variety of crimes, the most serious of which can attract up to life imprisonment. We are reviewing the law in this area and working with the Home Office on the development of the EU Framework Directive on combating trafficking in human beings and will take steps to implement the directive once it is agreed.

Justice

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive further to the answer to question S1W-18517 by Mr Jim Wallace on 9 October 2001, how many judges and sheriffs have received training relating to (a) domestic abuse, (b) sexual assault and (c) vulnerable witnesses.

Mr Jim Wallace: These subjects have been, and are, covered in training exercises which have been attended by all the judiciary.

Justice

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the current situation in regard to training for the judiciary, so that training in issues such as domestic abuse, sexual assault and vulnerable witnesses is compulsory.

Mr Jim Wallace: Training is in the hands of the independent Judicial Studies Committee. I am satisfied that the committee have arrangements to tackle the subjects to which the question refers.

Justice

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what training has been offered to judges and sheriffs in the last three years and how many have taken part in these training courses.

Mr Jim Wallace: All new members of the judiciary have participated in induction courses. There have also been refresher courses for serving sheriffs and a number of special events, for all the judiciary in particular on Human Rights legislation. All Supreme Court Judges and sheriffs have taken part in training at different times.

Justice

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance has been offered to the judiciary in regard to (a) sentencing and (b) what circumstances should be taken into account when deciding on the sentence for offences relating to (i) domestic abuse and (ii) sexual assault.

Mr Jim Wallace: Sentencing is a matter for the independent judiciary and ministers do not issue sentencing guidelines. Sentencing in cases involving domestic abuse or sexual assault will depend on all the circumstances of the case, including any previous convictions of the accused.

Lip-Reading

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22857 by Malcolm Chisholm on 21 February 2002, what studies and consultation it undertook prior to implementing its policy in regard to support for lip-reading skills.

Malcolm Chisholm: We consulted with the providers of lip-reading skills training.

Lip-Reading

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22857 by Malcolm Chisholm on 21 February 2002, what grants under section 9 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 have been made to assist the provision of lip-reading skills in the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency in each year since 1999.

Malcolm Chisholm: Grants awarded under section 9 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 are to national voluntary organisations and would therefore not be awarded to the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency.

Lip-Reading

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22857 by Malcolm Chisholm on 21 February 2002, what grants under section 9 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 have been made to assist the provision of lip-reading skills in the Motherwell and Wishaw constituency in each year since 1999.

Malcolm Chisholm: Grants awarded under section 9 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 are to national voluntary organisations and would therefore not be awarded to the Motherwell and Wishaw constituency.

Local Government Finance

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive on what basis the City of Edinburgh Council has been granted additional borrowing of approximately £2 million to defray the costs arising from the demolition of houses.

Peter Peacock: The City of Edinburgh Council has been awarded additional capital consent of £1.8 million for the regeneration of the Gilmerton area of the city, following the collapse of housing over old limestone workings in late 2000. The support has been granted to the council to help it cope with an emergency situation that it could not reasonably have foreseen, and that was not of its making.

Local Government Finance

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22619 by Peter Peacock on 21 February 2002, whether an application by Scottish Borders Council under paragraph 1(2) of schedule 3 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1975 for special borrowing in order to reverse the further £5.5 million in cuts voted through by the council administration on Thursday 14 February 2002 would be competent.

Peter Peacock: Scottish Borders Council has not submitted a formal application for special borrowing to reverse its budget deficit. Further, the council has now set its budget for 2002-03 and council tax bills have issued. The competence of any future request for special borrowing from the council would depend on the terms on which it was made.

Local Government Finance

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22619 by Peter Peacock on 21 February 2002, which local authorities have been awarded special or additional borrowing consent under either paragraph 1(2) of schedule 3 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1975, or any other statutory or non-statutory authorisation in the last three financial years, broken down by (a) date, (b) local authority, (c) statutory or non-statutory authorisation, (d) purpose, (e) the amount awarded and (f) on what terms the award was made.

Peter Peacock: Local authorities are empowered to borrow for capital purposes, by virtue of the provisions in schedule 3 to the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1975. It is only where they require to borrow money for other than capital purposes (except in relation to any public utility undertaking), or to raise money outside the United Kingdom or in a foreign currency, that they require consent from Scottish ministers. No local authority has been awarded special borrowing consent in the last three financial years.

Mental Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what campaigns specifically related to mental health the Health Education Board for Scotland has conducted since 1999.

Malcolm Chisholm: The board has undertaken a wide range of initiatives relating to mental health since 1999. These include:

  Support to Scottish Mental Health week every year through the development of resources and a small grant scheme for small, local initiatives.

  The development of two sets of resources for young people: "Cool Heads" for teenagers aged 12 to 16 years and "Head Kit" for 16- to 18-year-olds.

  The highly successful mass media campaign for young people "Think About It" that has, at the heart of it, mental health issues and a focus on relationships, self-image and decision-making through adolescence.

  Schools-based initiatives focussing on mental and emotional health issues.

  A new strand of media work highlighting the importance of communication, listening and respect for children - all of which relate to the mental and emotional well-being of parents and their children.

  A recently produced HEBS "Evidence into Action" paper focussing on research and evaluation of health for the under-fives includes a section on mental health issues

  The production and dissemination of research undertaken to consider the role of primary care in the detection and management of mental health problems. A group has subsequently been set up to consider how the voluntary sector and primary care can link together more effectively.

  The development, with the Institute of Occupational Medicine, of a new resource "Work Positive" which relates to stress in the workplace.

  Although specific initiatives have yet to be identified, mental health issues will be an important strand of the work of the board's new Children and Families programme. HEBS has also been working with others to consider how best to make explicit links between community development work and its impact on community health. This work is still very much in the early stages of thinking and development.

Mental Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding packages have been allocated to the Health Education Board for Scotland for the promotion of mental health issues which specifically target women aged between 25 and 45 since 1999.

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding packages have been allocated to the Health Education Board for Scotland for the promotion of mental health issues which specifically target men aged between 25 and 45 since 1999

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding packages have been allocated to the Health Education Board for Scotland for the promotion of mental health issues which specifically target parents of children under five since 1999.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Health Education Board for Scotland (HEBS) receives a global financial allocation from the Scottish Executive each year. It is then a matter for the board to apportion these resources according to Operational Plan priorities.

  HEBS has, since 1999, undertaken a number of initiatives relating to the promotion of mental health issues. Because mental health issues are integrated into most of HEBS' work, the following figures therefore only reflect what has been ring-fenced and is not necessarily an accurate reflection of the amount of work covering mental health promotion, that is undertaken by HEBS. Nor can the figures be broken down into specific age/sex groups.

  


1999-2000


£290,000




2000-01


£843,000




2001-02


£1,800,000 (estimate)

Mental Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether detailed costings for the implementation of the Millan Committee recommendations have been completed.

Malcolm Chisholm: A Mental Health Bill will be introduced later this year, which will give effect to the Millan Committee recommendations, as described in the policy statement "Renewing Mental Health Law", published in October 2001. The accompanying Financial Memorandum will set out the best estimates of the costs to which the provisions of the bill could give rise.

Mental Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what specific monies have been made available to the Health Education Board for Scotland for an anti-stigma campaign.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Health Education Board for Scotland has not been provided with additional funds, relating to a national anti-stigma campaign. The Scottish Executive is, however, planning to commission such a campaign as one element of the National Programme for the Improvement of Mental Health.

Ministerial Parliamentary Aides

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Ministerial Code applies to those appointed as ministerial parliamentary aides.

Mr Jack McConnell: The only provisions in the Scottish Ministerial Code, which apply directly to ministerial parliamentary aides, are those in paragraphs 4.6 - 4.13 of the code, which set out their role and arrangements for their appointment. Paragraph 4.12 of the code makes it clear, however, that while ministerial parliamentary aides are not subject to the rules on private interests, which apply to ministers, they must, as a general rule, seek to avoid any real or perceived conflict of interest between their role as a Ministerial Parliamentary Aide and their private interests.

NHS Finance

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive which spending allocations to the former Forth Valley Health Board in each of the past two years have been based on the Arbuthnott formula for distributing health funding, including any additional or one-off items of expenditure.

Malcolm Chisholm: Plans for implementation of the Arbuthnott formula were announced in September 2000. An additional £12 million was make available nationally in September 2000, to make progress in implementing the recommendations in the Arbuthnott Report. Forth Valley Health Board received £0.307 million.

  For 2001-02 all health boards received a minimum increase in unified budget of 5.5%, with those boards currently below their Arbuthnott formula targets making some move towards that target. Forth Valley Health Board received an increase in unified budget of 6% in 2001-02. In addition, Forth Valley received £0.623 million from the Health Improvement Fund and an additional £0.568 million as a contribution towards the extra costs involved in managing winter pressures, which were distributed on the basis of the Arbuthnott formula.

NHS Waiting Times

Mr Kenneth Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients are currently waiting for orthopaedic surgery in Greater Glasgow.

Malcolm Chisholm: On 31 December 2001, 3,243 patients in NHS Greater Glasgow were awaiting hospital admission for orthopaedic surgery.

NHS Waiting Times

Mr Kenneth Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time is for a hip replacement operation in Greater Glasgow.

Malcolm Chisholm: In the year ending 30 September 2001, the median waiting time for a hip replacement operation in NHS Greater Glasgow was 218 days.

NHS Waiting Times

Mr Kenneth Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how the average waiting time for a hip replacement operation in Greater Glasgow compares with all other NHS boards.

Malcolm Chisholm: The median waiting times for hip replacement surgery, in the year ended 30 September 2001, by NHS board of residence, are given in the following table:

  NHSScotland: Median Waiting Times For Hip Replacement Surgery, By NHS Board of Residence: Year Ending 30 September 2001.

  


NHS Board


30 September 2001
Median Wait (Days)




Argyll and Clyde


182




Ayrshire and Arran


138




Borders


173




Dumfries and Galloway


202




Fife


184




Forth Valley


218




Grampian


109




Greater Glasgow


218




Highland


112




Lanarkshire


133




Lothian


207




Orkney


45




Shetland


147




Tayside


127




Western Isles


56




Scotland


158




  Source: ISD, Scotland.

NHS Waiting Times

Mr Kenneth Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to reduce and eliminate waiting lists and waiting times for patients requiring orthopaedic surgery.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive is committed to reducing waiting at every stage of the patient's journey through the NHS and to ensuring that journey is as swift and responsive as possible. The current national maximum waiting time for in-patient and day case treatment, including orthopaedic surgery, will be reduced from 12 months to nine months in 2003.

  The National Waiting Times Unit expects NHS boards to be targeting lengthy waits for diagnosis and treatment. The unit is currently assessing NHS boards' Local Health Plans to determine how best to distribute additional funding to tackle waiting in 2002-03. It may fund specific initiatives to reduce delays for orthopaedic surgery, depending on the capacity in each NHS board area.

Planning

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many planning applications were (a) made and (b) approved in each local authority area in each of the past three years.

Ms Margaret Curran: The information requested is given in the following table:

  


Unitary Authority


1998-99
Total Applications Received


Total Applications Granted


1999-2000
Total Applications Received


Total
Applications Granted


2000-01
Total Applications Received


Total
Applications Granted




Aberdeen City


2,303


1,997


2,142


1,890


2,060


1,767




Aberdeenshire


3,420


3,046


3,522


3,046


3,308


2,882




Angus


1,213


1,082


1,151


1,045


1,089


942




Argyll and Bute


1,519


1,271


1,502


1,295


1,497


1,209




Clackmannanshire


381


326


381


343


323


293




Dumfries and Galloway


1,532


1,692


1,650


1,515


1,703


1,527




Dundee City


812


670


871


766


768


658




East Ayrshire


836


738


846


741


799


734




East Dunbartonshire


852


766


814


718


860


750




East Lothian


559


452


1,103


1,084


1,229


952




East Renfrewshire


683


623


678


653


689


587




Edinburgh


3,747


2,919


4,442


3,547


4,233


3,263




Falkirk


951


745


834


823


944


814




Fife


3,492


3,123


3,564


2,988


3,265


2,908




Glasgow City


3,039


2,595


3,311


2,692


3,371


2,689




Highland


3,911


3,270


4,035


3,465


3,888


3,282




Inverclyde


494


446


492


466


448


395




Midlothian


643


578


766


616


738


656




Moray


974


926


1,113


1,001


994


963




North Ayrshire


825


720


889


751


790


759




North Lanarkshire


1,610


1,456


1,531


1,393


1,393


1,232




Orkney


402


373


409


388


379


334




Perth and Kinross


1,749


1,471


1,855


1,553


1,834


1,639




Renfrewshire


1,119


872


1,015


853


1,000


851




Scottish Borders


1,460


1,391


1,437


1,389


1,536


1,325




Shetland


380


371


376


323


407


341




South Ayrshire


1,268


1090


1,298


1,079


1,251


1,056




South Lanarkshire


1,834


1,558


1,873


1,603


1,691


1,467




Stirling


979


845


1036


850


885


773




West Dunbartonshire


485


414


489


443


461


382




West Lothian


1,021


929


1,103


897


1,098


970




Western Isles


430


420


341


306


363


310




Scotland


44,923


39,175


46,869


40,522


45,294


38,710




  Note:

  The figures are collected for the six month periods from April to September and October to March for each financial year.

  Figures for East Lothian in the first half of 1998-99 were not available. The relevant annual figures in the table for this council are therefore underreported.

Police

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the statements contained in motion S1M-2756 in the name of Cathie Craigie, what effect its allocation of resources has had on police investigations in the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency in each of the past 12 months

Mr Jim Wallace: Information on expenditure by police forces on individual aspects of operational policing with force areas is not held centrally. Funding for the police, which is currently at record levels, is allocated in total to each force. It is for police authorities in consultation with chief constables to set budgets for individual forces. Once a budget has been agreed, the use of that budget to meet the operational needs of each force is a matter for individual chief constables.

Population

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has carried out any assessment of the impact of depopulation on those areas which the Registrar General has forecast will be significantly depopulated by 2016.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Executive has not, to date, carried out any assessment of the impact of depopulation on the aforementioned areas. However, analysts within the Executive are planning to consider migration and demographic change in Scotland, and how it will impact upon the Scottish economy.

  The Framework for Economic Development in Scotland, published in June 2000, recognises that regional and social development are important both for the attainment of the equity objectives of the Executive and for the enhancement of overall economic growth. The framework notes (on page 65) that one of the Executive's objectives is "to maintain and foster the wide range of communities throughout Scotland".

Prescription Charges

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23597 by Malcolm Chisholm on 1 March 2002, how much money prescription charges have raised for the NHS in each of the last five years.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is set out in the following table:

  Revenue from Prescriptions in Scotland 1995-96 to 2000-01

  


Financial Year


£000




1995-96


34,249




1996-97


33,993




1997-98


36,141




1998-99


38,715




1999-2000


42,926




2000-01


43,500

Rail Services

Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give a commitment to maintaining (a) the Kyle of Lochalsh to Inverness rail service, (b) the Wick and Thurso to Inverness rail service and (c) the sleeper services from Inverness from 2004 onwards.

Lewis Macdonald: To safeguard services that are operated by ScotRail, in excess of those contracted under its Passenger Service Requirement agreement, the Scottish Executive announced on 7 March a £70 million deal, which re-profiled the current ScotRail franchise. This will ensure that, when we prepare our Directions and Guidance for the re-letting of the Scottish passenger rail franchise, the specification will be based on this  improved level of service, which includes all current services.

Road Accidents

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the statement referred to in motion S1M-2756 in the name of Cathie Craigie that "limited resources allocated to investigating fatal road traffic accidents affect the quality of the police investigations of them", detailing the reasons behind its position on this matter.

Mr Jim Wallace: The statement referred to in motion S1M-2756 reflects a conclusion of a report of the Transport Research Laboratory, which examined issues relating to careless and dangerous driving throughout the UK. Information on expenditure by Scottish police forces, on individual aspects of operational policing with force areas, is not held centrally. Funding for the police, which is currently at record levels, is allocated in total to each force. It is for police authorities in consultation with chief constables to set budgets for individual forces. Once a budget has been agreed, the use of that budget to meet the operational needs of each force is a matter for individual chief constables.

Road Accidents

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what role has been played by the system of speed cameras in reducing the incidence of (a) fatal and (b) non-fatal road accidents.

Lewis Macdonald: A report on the first year of a Great Britain speed camera pilot scheme, published by the UK Government in August 2001, can be found at:

  http://www.roads.dtlr.gov.uk/roadsafety/costrec/index.htm.

  This confirms that cameras are playing a significant role in reducing accidents and the severity of injuries.

  The report shows that, compared with the average over the previous three years, the number of injury collisions at the camera pilot sites fell by an average of 35% and the number of people killed or seriously injured fell by an average of 47%.

Roads

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in disposing of any property it acquired during the construction of the M74 northern extension.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive has not acquired any property for the M74 northern extension. For the section of the M74/A74(M) between Douglas and the border, missives are being concluded for one property, following an open market sale and two others are subject to negotiation with previous owners. Further disposals are expected soon.

Rural Development

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding was (a) allocated and (b) spent to date from the ring-fenced sums announced for the Highland Pilot of the Rural Partnership for Change Initiative and how much will be spent (i) by the end of 2001-02 and (ii) in 2002-03 and (iii) in 2003-04.

Iain Gray: I have asked Mr Bob Millar, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

  Communities Scotland's (and Scottish Homes) actual development programme investment allocated and spent to date on the Highland Pilot of the Rural Partnership for Change Initiative in the period 2000-01 to 2003-04, is as follows:

  Communities Scotland/Scottish Homes - Highland Pilot of the Rural Partnership for Change Initiative - (2000-01 to 2003-04)

  


Year


Allocated


Spent to date




£ million


£ million




2000-01


0.8


0.8




2001-02


2.0


2.0 1




2002-03


3.0


N/A




2003-04


TBC


TBC




  Note:

  1. Estimate.

Rural Development

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive by how much (a) Scottish Homes and (b) Communities Scotland have augmented their budgets for use in the Highlands to accommodate the ring-fenced funding allocated for the Highland Pilot of the Rural Partnership for Change Initiative in (a) 2001-02, (b) 2002-03 and (c) 2003-04 as compared with their budget plans in 1999-2000.

Iain Gray: I have asked Mr Bob Millar, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

  Communities Scotland's (and Scottish Homes) actual development programme budgets in the Highlands and Islands Region, including the Highland Pilot of the Rural Partnership for Change Initiative in the period 2001-02 to 2003-04, are as follows:

  Communities Scotland/Scottish Homes - Highland & Islands Regional Budget (1999-2000 to 2003-04) - Capital and Revenue

  


Year


Highlands & Islands Region Total Budget


Increase compared to 1999-2000 budget




£ million


£ million




1999-2000


10.2


-




2001-02


13.4


+3.2




2002-03


13.4


+3.2




2003-04


TBC


TBC

Rural Development

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether all money allocated to the Highland Pilot of the Rural Partnership for Change initiative will be utilised by the end of 2002-03 and, if not, whether any unused sums will continue to be available beyond then.

Iain Gray: I have asked Mr Bob Millar, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond.

  His response is as follows:

  When the Highland Pilot of the Rural Partnership for Change Initiative was announced in 2000-01, Communities Scotland/Scottish Homes were committed to ring fencing £10 million of funding from the agency's development programme. Any unused sums at the end of 2002-03 will therefore continue to be ring-fenced in 2003-04 and beyond to meet our commitment to this project.

Rural Development

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether expenditure allocated to (a) Scottish Homes and (b) Communities Scotland available for spending in the Highland Council area in (i) 2000-01, (ii) 2001-02 and (iii) 2002-03 has increased over the planned expenditure for 1999-2000 and, if so, by how much.

Iain Gray: I have asked Mr Bob Millar, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

  Communities Scotland's (and Scottish Homes) actual development programme budgets in the Highland Council area in the period 1999-2000 to 2002-03, are as follows:

  Communities Scotland/Scottish Homes Expenditure - Highland Council (1999-2000 - 2003-04) - Capital and Revenue Expenditure

  


Year


Highland Council


Increase compared to 1999-2000 budget




£ million


£ million




1999-2000


6.6


-




2000-01


7.7


+1.1




2001-02


9.4


+2.8




2002-03


9.4


+2.8

Schools

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many school nurses were employed in each local authority area at 31 March and 30 September in each of the past three years.

Malcolm Chisholm: Local authorities do not employ school nurses. School nurses are employed by NHS boards and the figures are detailed in the following table. The figures reflect the number of school nurses at 30 September each year.

  There are as yet no figures available for the year 2001.

  School Nurses directly employed by NHSScotland by NHS Board

  Headcount and Whole Time Equivalent at 30 September

  


 


Headcount


Whole Time Equivalent




1998


1999


2000


1998


1999


2000




Scotland


395


388


384


284.4


277.5


275.6




Argyll & Clyde


34


35


34


22.8


23.2


23.8




Ayrshire and Arran


26


27


27


18.9


19.7


18.9




Borders


8


6


5


5.5


4.4


3.8




Dumfries and Galloway


12


12


11


6.5


6.5


6.1




Fife


37


38


38


27.4


29.6


29.7




Forth Valley


17


17


17


13.5


13.5


13.4




Grampian


40


49


54


25.3


31.6


34.3




Greater Glasgow


69


66


69


54.7


52.2


54.7




Highland


19


19


22


13.9


13.9


16.7




Lanarkshire


45


42


51


37.4


34.3


42.2




Lothian


40


34


14


28.4


24.7


8.6




Orkney


1


-


-


0.6


-


-




Shetland


1


1


1


0.8


0.8


0.8




Tayside


44


40


40


27.1


21.8


21.7




Western Isles


2


2


1


1.7


1.3


1.0




  Source: National Manpower Statistics from Payroll ISD Scotland.

  Note:

  Comprises qualified nurses and excludes nurse teachers and nurses in training.

Scottish Executive Consultation

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to its press release SE0285/02 of 7 February 2002, which organisations have been sent the consultation paper The Future of Scotland's Water: Proposals for Legislation , how much it cost to print and distribute the document and when the consultation period will close.

Allan Wilson: The Future for Scotland's Water: Proposals for Legislation has so far been sent to approximately 510 different organisations and individuals. These can be summarised as follows:

  


Type of organisation


Number




Government


18




Public Bodies


95




Local Authorities


36




Industry


74




Voluntary/Environment Groups


25




Water Industry


6




Fishery Organisations


114




Consultancies


15




Agricultural Sector


19




Legal


14




Leisure


8




Academic/Research


35




Individuals


18




Equality/Churches


12




Other


21




  The cost of printing and distributing 2,000 copies of the consultation paper to the above organisations was in the region of £4,500. The consultation period closes on Friday, 5 April 2002.

Scottish Executive Publications

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it cost to print, publish and distribute its leaflet Scotland's Economic Future - A new start for a new era - doing it differently and how many copies were distributed.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The total publication costs of the Scotland's Economic Future leaflet were approximately £8,960. This figure is based on 8,000 copies of the leaflet and 5,000 copies have been distributed to date.

Scottish Youth Parliament

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will lodge a motion for consideration for debate in the Parliament on the Scottish Youth Parliament.

Cathy Jamieson: Timetabling of parliamentary business is a matter for the Parliamentary Bureau and selection of motions for debate is a matter for the Presiding Officer.

  The Executive hopes to bring forward a debate on youth policy after the Easter recess. The Scottish Youth Parliament is likely to form part of this debate.

Scottish Youth Parliament

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance it (a) has given in each of the past two years and (b) plans to give to the Scottish Youth Parliament.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive has supported the Scottish Youth Parliament, both financially and with advice as necessary. The Youth Parliament first applied for grant under the Further Education (Approved Associations) (Scotland) Grant Regulations 1989 for financial year 2001-02 and were awarded the sum of £80,000. They applied for three-year funding for the period 2002-05 and have been awarded £80,000 for 2002-03 and indicative amounts of the same for the following two years.

Sex Offenders

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which police force areas have been notified of the release of short-term sex offenders in each month since September 2001.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Governors notify the relevant police forces, of those prisoners who are on the Sex Offender Register and are due for release. The specific information requested is not collated centrally.

Sex Offenders

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what processes are used by the Scottish Prison Service to notify police force areas of the release of short-term sex offenders.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The legal requirement to notify the police is placed on the offender. It has nevertheless been agreed following discussion with the other Criminal Justice Agencies, that the SPS will issue reminders about notification, to relevant prisoners, as part of the discharge process, and inform the police when relevant offenders are released.

  When a prisoner is liberated, a notice that summarises the notification requirements under the Sex Offenders Act is given to the prisoner. A second copy is filed, a third copy is sent to the Chief Constable for the area to which the prisoner is to be discharged and a fourth to the Prison Social Work Unit for onward transmission to the relevant Community Social Work Department.

Sex Offenders

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what processes are in place to ensure that no short-term sex offenders are released without a proper risk assessment and consultation with the relevant police force being undertaken and when these processes were put in place.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The requirement to notify the police is placed on the offender. It has, nevertheless, been agreed following discussion with the other Criminal Justice Agencies, that the SPS will issue reminders about notification as part of the discharge process, and inform the police when relevant offenders are released.

  When a prisoner is liberated a notice summarising the notification requirements under the Sex Offenders Act is given to the prisoner. Copies are sent to the police in the area to which the prisoner is to be discharged, and to the relevant local authority social work department.

  These processes were put in place on 1 September 1997.

  Prisoners who are subject to post-release supervision, are allocated to a prison-based social worker on reception. An initial Risk Assessment is carried out in line with National Standards, and pre-release arrangements are in place for co-ordination between the prison and the community-based team, responsible for post-release supervision of the prisoner.

Sex Offenders

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-4668 by Mr Jim Wallace on 14 February 2002, what the proposed measures are in respect of making UK and foreign nationals convicted of sex offences abroad subject to the same registration requirements as such offenders convicted in the UK.

Mr Jim Wallace: The measures proposed would be to enable the police, if they become aware that such an offender is in the UK, to apply to a court for an Order to Register as a Sex Offender. The intention is to impose the same requirements on an individual and have the same penalties as apply under the Sex Offenders Act 1997, as if they had been convicted in the UK.

Sexual Abuse

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what services it funds for survivors of sexual abuse.

Malcolm Chisholm: I announced on 19 February grant of £120,000 over the next three years to the Moira Anderson Foundation, to help raise awareness of the needs of survivors and to expand local self help groups, and £53,000 over the next two years to the Edinburgh Association for Mental Health, to evaluate operation of a national telephone helpline service for survivors of sexual abuse.

Sexual Abuse

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has funded into the effects of sexual abuse and what the conclusions of any such research have been.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) funded a research project in 1995-97, to evaluate the effectiveness of open learning training on sexual abuse in services to people with learning disabilities: Universities of Dundee, Keele and St Andrews; costing £89,998, Principal Investigator Prof. C Cullen. The research concluded that the open learning course was successful in improving student's knowledge of abuse, and enhanced attitudes to its causes.

  The Scottish Executive part-funded Beyond Trauma: Mental Health Care Needs Of Women Who Survived Childhood Sexual Abuse, a summary copy of which is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 14287).

  The CSO is currently funding one project on child sexual abuse. This is a pilot study evaluating an early intervention service, for non-abusing parents of victims of child sexual abuse: Edinburgh University, costing £17,230, Principal Investigator Dr Fiona Forbes. A report on its effectiveness is due soon, and will be considered by the Health Services Research Committee in due course.

Sexual Abuse

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will implement recommendation 14 of the report Fife Council Independent Enquiry Established by the Chief Executive Following The Conviction of David Logan Murphy For the Sexual Abuse of Children in regard to the funding of services for survivors of abuse.

Cathy Jamieson: Recommendation 14 was aimed at local authorities and health boards as well as central government. Services for survivors of childhood sexual abuse are provided by a range of health, education, social care and criminal justice services funded by the Scottish Executive. The Executive also funds voluntary sector bodies to undertake work in this area, and I refer the member to the answer given to question S1O-4765 on 28 February 2002.

Sexual Abuse

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what recommendations from the report Fife Council Independent Enquiry Established by the Chief Executive Following The Conviction of David Logan Murphy For the Sexual Abuse of Children it will recommend be implemented across all local authorities.

Cathy Jamieson: This was a report commissioned by Fife Council and the recommendations were mainly directed to the council. However, other local authorities may have lessons to learn from the report. We are aware that Fife Council has sent the report to all local authorities and they will want to determine whether the recommendations are relevant to their procedures.

  Recruitment practice was a key issue in this case, and the Scottish Executive is currently consulting externally on a safer recruitment "toolkit", commissioned by the Executive in response to a recommendation in the report of the Children's Safeguards Review.

Social Inclusion

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities currently have strategies in place to offer help and advice to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.

Ms Margaret Curran: The information requested is not held centrally. It is entirely up to local authorities if they wish to develop strategies to provide help and support to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. However, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) would be better placed to offer information regarding individual authorities.

  Jon Harris, Director of Policy and Legislation at COSLA has offered himself as a point of contact. His address is: COSLA, Rosebery House, 9 Haymarket Terrace, Edinburgh, EH12 5XZ.

Tourism

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions it has had with the tourist industry about the use of euro notes and coins.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Executive is in regular contact with VisitScotland and the area tourist boards on this issue. VisitScotland have stated that Scotland's tourism businesses should be receptive to the needs of their customers. They therefore encourage businesses to accept the euro as a method of payment, although it is not legal tender in the UK, and are distributing suitable material and information, on request.

  In conjunction with the Treasury, Scotland Europa have implemented a detailed programme to provide advice and raise awareness of the need by all businesses - including in the tourist industry - to make appropriate preparations for the introduction of the currency. This includes the Trading in euro symbol which indicates that an organisation is willing and able to deal with the euro currency.

Youth Crime

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in developing closer links between the youth justice system and agencies dealing with children and young people who are at risk of offending.

Cathy Jamieson: All authorities have multi-agency youth justice teams in place. The Executive is completing a mapping exercise of all local authorities to measure their progress in working with children and young people who offend or are at risk of offending. The results will be available in the Parliament's Reference Centre shortly. We are also holding quarterly national networking events for youth justice practitioners to disseminate good practice and to support policy development.

Youth Crime

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the £21.75 million available from the New Opportunities Fund to promote the role of sport in diverting young people from offending will be allocated to projects in rural areas.

Dr Elaine Murray: Every local authority in Scotland has been given a provisional allocation of funding to support activities, designed to promote the role of sport in diverting children and young people from crime or behaviour likely to lead to this type of activity.

  The provisional allocation is based on the size of school population in the local authority area and on the levels of deprivation found in the area. There is also a weighting for the three Islands authorities, to ensure that they have meaningful allocations.

Youth Crime

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the funding announced in June 2000 for the prevention of youth crime has been allocated to tackling youth crime in rural areas.

Cathy Jamieson: A total of £25.5 million over four years has been allocated to tackle youth offending.  The following table shows the allocation by local authority:

  


Authority


Restorative Justice Grant 2001-02


2001-02 and 2002-03


2003-04




Aberdeen City


£78,443


£166,000


£333,000




Aberdeenshire


£94,095


£106,000


£212,000




Angus


£42,311


£76,000


£153,000




Argyll & Bute


£33,078


£56,000


£112,000




Clackmannanshire


£19,850


£51,000


£101,000




Dumfries and Galloway


£55,557


£101,000


£202,000




Dundee


£56,472


£207,000


£414,000




East Ayrshire


£48,248


£131,000


£263,000




East Dunbartonshire


£42,612


£51,000


£101,000




East Lothian


£34,195


£65,000


£130,000




East Renfrewshire


£17,950


£35,331


£89,000




Edinburgh


£163,340


£406,000


£812,000




Falkirk


£52,700


£131,000


£262,000




Fife


£126,460


£314,000


£629,000




Glasgow


£436,540


£1,086,000


£2,171,000




Highland


£63,440


£158,000


£316,000




Inverclyde


£41,620


£103,000


£207,000




Midlothian


£27,060


£67,000


£135,000




Moray


£21,490


£53,000


£107,000




North Ayrshire


£66,860


£166,000


£333,000




North Lanarkshire


£143,550


£357,000


£714,000




Orkney


£3,400


£20,000


£40,000




Perth and Kinross


£32,730


£81,000


£163,000




Renfrewshire


£76,280


£190,000


£379,000




Scottish Borders


£24,010


£60,000


£119,000




Shetland


£4,500


£20,000


£40,000




South Ayrshire


£34,300


£85,000


£171,000




South Lanarkshire


£110,920


£276,000


£552,000




Stirling


£25,370


£63,000


£126,000




West Dunbartonshire


£57,230


£142,000


£285,000




West Lothian


£58,250


£145,000


£290,000




Western Isles


£5,570


£20,000


£40,000




Total


£2 million


£5 million /£5 million


£10 million

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer what the detailed breakdowns are of (a) the current estimate of £3.9 million losses to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body resulting from the insolvency of Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd and (b) the previous estimate of losses of approximately £2 million.

Sir David Steel: I understand from the Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group that tenders for the various elements of the MSP cladding package are presently being evaluated and therefore it is not possible to provide a detailed breakdown of this figure. The previous estimate of the additional cost of £2 million was based only upon information that the supply of windows as sourced by Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd was no longer available.

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer on what date the Parent Company Guarantee was (a) dated and (b) received in respect of the obligations of Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd.

Sir David Steel: The Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group has confirmed that the Parent Company Guarantee was dated 28 September 2001 and was received by the Construction Manager, Bovis Lend Lease Ltd, on 5 October 2001.

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer on what date the initial contract between Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd and the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body became binding.

Sir David Steel: I understand from the Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group that the Interim Contract was executed on 29 January 2001.

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer on what date the tenders were received for the contract for the MSP block wall cladding and windows; on what date the Holyrood Project Team considered the tenders; on what date a recommendation was made by the Holyrood Project Team to the Holyrood Progress Group on which company should be awarded the contract; what recommendation was made, and whether all documents in regard to this recommendation will be made publicly available.

Sir David Steel: Tenders for the MSP cladding and windows were received and opened on 9 October 2000 and I understand from the Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group they were considered by the Design Team, Cost Consultant and Construction Manager from then until 25 January 2001 when the tender recommendation was submitted to the Holyrood Project Team. The recommendation was that Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd should be awarded the contract for the MSP cladding package. The Parliament has received legal advice that the documents requested should not be made publicly available while the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body's rights and entitlements are still being evaluated, as they may form part of the productions in any litigation which may follow.

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer whether the guarantee document granted by Flour City International Inc. in respect of the obligations of Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd was signed by John W Tang, President and Chief Executive Officer and Johnson K Fong, Chief Financial Officer and, if not, who signed the document on behalf of Flour City International Inc.

Sir David Steel: The Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group has confirmed that the parent company guarantee was signed by Johnson K Fong for and on behalf of the Guarantor.

Holyrood Project

Ms Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will seek to re-negotiate its management contract with Bovis Lend Lease following the company's awarding of the contract for the supply for timber and stone products to Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd.

Sir David Steel: Audit Scotland has recently completed a review of the Flour City Architectural Metal (UK) Ltd contract as part of their routine audit of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body's (SPCB) accounts. Any further action by the SPCB with regard to this matter will be considered in the light of Audit Scotland's findings.